Month: May 2020

The Invisible Epidemic (rewrite)

/ Kay Loke / Leave a comment

01/10/2020

updated from 31/05 and 14/06/2020

I was stunned to what says WHO (World Health Organization) dated May 21, 2020, that the number of the confirmed COVID-19 case reached Five-million, worldwide. Later, from theGardain, UK (www.thegardain) that ‘the COVID-19 is affecting almost everything that’s happening on the planet at the moment.’ The statement inspirited me to post a write-up on 31/05/2020. However, I put it back to the draft, a few days later. I know that God didn’t send down the COVID, but did it make it a criterion for a miracle that mirrors the same process of how Jesus miraculously feeding the 5000 with the microscopic means ( 2-fishes and 5-loaf-of bread) with COVID pandemic? It is difficult for people to understand God’s will and God’s way, if they don’t have the faith.

Let us go back and take a good look from the beinning. The World Health Organization told us that  COVID-19 is a family of virus. Now, woefully, months later, people around the world are still asking the same questions like how long the virus can survive on the open? How does the contagion work? Would warm temperature help ward off the virus? All countries still face the same challenge from day one. Such as ‘The Testing of the COVID-19,’ the scared supplies of Test Kits (www.cdc.gov). All the public health systems are too crushing to cope with demands. Ether people died before they reach the hospital, or died in the presence of their loved ones at home, or died alone at nursing homes. www.oecd.org. 

We saw horrific and graphic news coverages in the first quarter of 2020. Many cities such as New York or cities in Italy all toils with the death tolls of COVID-19 because all funeral homes and churches overflow. Clinically, some symptoms are treatable, but no specific treatment approved for it yet. Finally, it says that Coronavirus has different species so that the safe and affordable vaccine would need times to test and validation. Most of all the affected countries have implemented the recommended preventive measures such as mask-ups, social distance, washing hands, quarantines, and travel restrictions, yet, the spread of Coronavirus and the spike of the death toll without ceasing. Considering the pandemic that no Test is available for all, no drugs to cure-all, the vaccines are still in the embryonic stage, is that our immune system what are left for us to fight for this virus?

It says that the old life-style died hard. Long before people become more aware of the importance of exercises and balanced/nutritious meals, we heard the eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt tests positive for COVID-19 after partying in Jamaica. And Bolt is not the only Olympic gold medalist tests positive. Many young people have gone into the same path. By God’s mercy that not all who test positive would end it up in ICU beds, and not all of infected resulted in death. It is why many countries have toyed with the decision to lift the social distancing, travel restrictions and other recommended preventative measures either for social or economic reasons. The most significant global challenge is how to have a safe return to school for children.

At first, I saw a broken window, and the word ‘ONE’ like a repeatedly audible voice to me. I meditated on what it meant if that’s “Oneness ?’ Or ‘is it One Step at the time?’ At that point, the copy of the Bible come to the mind that puzzled me a great deal. Next day, I couldn’t believe with my own eyes to see the reruns of the world news covered ‘President Trump stands in front of Church holding his Bible after threatening military action against protesters.’ I assumed that holding up the copy of the Bible must have been President Trump’s conviction in the given situation that he has faced. It’s the validation of my vision. The Bible is God’s Word, God’s Word is intangible because of what it signifies. The Word is tangible, because it become flesh, and that’s alive and active. 

I ponder deeply on that is it for me to dive deep into the Word again? Or for others to take it on? God is forever faithful. With no coincidence, and by chance, I have been in my third week of Bible studies on the book of Genesis, under the structure of www.bsf.com, International Bible Study Fellowship. In the third chapter of the book is about ‘The Serpent’s Deception” that attributes to our sinfulness nature and in the fourth chapter says how human race has suffered fatal consequences. The studies have affirmed my assumption that the spirit of Fear and the Sinfulness of human that spring from the Coronavirus is the invisible pandemic, which is probably more lethal and destructive than the spread of the Coronavirus.

The danger of the widespread misinformation, which was a great deal of truth merged with an element of untruth. There was also in those fabrications that gave the power to deceive. People would share it and send it without reservation. Eventually, it would be like the contagious pandemic. A special report from the BBC Trending might give us a perspective. The title reads “Coronavirus: The seven types of people who start and spread viral misinformation” – (https://www.bbc.com) 4 May 2020, by Marianna Spring. Take, for example, that racial injustice/racial discrimination has unmasked in every aspect of American life for many decades. During COVID-19 pandemic, with ‘Floyd’s killing,’ the ‘open window effect‘ has triggered the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement to protest against all racially motivated police brutality.

It has made the general public sentiment of ‘white supremacist,’ ‘anti-immigrant and ‘ hate crimes‘ escalated. In Asia, the Anti-government riot had shaken Hong Kong for months since June 2019. The rioters smashed a few of the central subway stations, occupied the airport. It were showing no signs of dying down, but, by the grace of COVID, the level of the violence scale down a bit, but didn’t die down. It presents threats that the protests would carry into the year 2020 and beyond. In Thailand, we saw young people openly and boldly vent their grievances on the street of Bangkok to protest against the leader of their country. for months. What went wrong with the world that we live at now? Immediately, the following scripture come to me“ The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9 NIV)

Fear is a kind of emotional disorder that is never from God (2 timothy 1:7).  However, after Adam sinned against God, the fear of death cleves the entire world. The fear due to the impact of the COVID-19 would be too long to list. And let us profile how emotional the spirit of Fear factor into the financial and business world. As the case search upsurge, a sense of panic attacked the Wall Street 2020 stock market crash on 09/03/2020, the Black Monday. With the OIL Price saga (http://Opec.org), and the anticipation of wars consumed people. In this present darkness of the pandemic, people are fearful of this virulent diseases, fearful of death or simply paranoid. We saw the news that people were hoarding and clearing up things on the shelves in supermarkets, especially toilet paper. Why toilet paper, Is hoarding psychology of Fear?

According to the case tracking update via http://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ of 29/09/2020, the total number of the case was 33,872,971, and the total death toll is 1,013,146. With unprecedented speed, it says that there are probably more than hundred COVID Vaccine developers across the world. They are joining in contests with hopes to become the first to bring one to the market to lighten the global crisis. Would the safety issues of the Clinical Trials and Immunisation be able to allow people to Fear Not to inject into their bodies? Even after a vaccine is approved, it confronts other challenges when it comes to production, distribution and pricing that also includes the decision of which populations should get it first. Many vaccines also have to remain in a perpetual stage of regular study due to the complexity of the COVID-19. 

The COVID-19 has affected the world too disruptive for too long. Where do we stand and when the spread of this virus is going to end? People naturally would zero into the development of the Coronavirus, and hoping the Vaccine would be available without being delay. However, as the Coronavirus has evolved, the pervasive of the sinful human nature and the spirit of Fear spreding like any epidemic are not only more destructive, but also an impossible human condition that would be able to find cure within human sufficiences.The entire Bible has introduced God’s Love to His followers. Jesus is Love. His love endures forever, either for the multitude of 5000 or 5 million or the whole world population as Oneness. For God So Loved (John 3:16).

It says that ‘His perfect love drives out Fear (1 John 4:18).’ As we reflected on the process of how Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5000, with insignificant means. The multitude took the pain to go and follow Jesus to a remote place with One heart, and in One spirit listened to His teaching intently. They kept distancing with others with no unpleasantness as what Jesus told them to (Luke 9:14). After all, we have had only One planet to be at, we have had only One humankind, and we all have had only One life to live. Now, the Coronavirus is the common enemy of the entire world. We need to believe that HE will miraclously stop the pandemic in His times and in His ways, with or without the Vaccine. However, the Vaccine for the the Invisible Epidemic is His redemptive love, whenever we call upon His powerful Name, and walk with Him.(Genesis chapter 4-7).

Although HE didn’t send down the COVID to test us, globally, the Coronavirus has held us all still for a long time. Is it possible that God wants us ‘to be still and know HE is God? (Psalms 46:10),’ and’ to exalt Him to be the desire of all nations? (Haggai 2:7)?’ Finally, I am moved with tears when I heard the ’50 Countries Affected By COVID-19 Represented in One Song‘ on YouTube singing ‘Amazing Grace‘ in 50 different languages, but sang in ONE Song to glorify His Name. HE is at work. As like how HE prepares, in advance, the fish/bread to feed the 5000, and how HE was invisibly behind Noah to construct the ark (Genesis 6) and HE has been amid the pandemic with us since the first outbreak. I have taken more than four months to keep up with the ramifications of the COVID, and I don’t feel like to have another dose of a rewrite when the second wave of infections outbreak is happening in Europe. 

colossians 1:13 kjv

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

The Miracle

/ Kay Loke / Leave a comment

Reworked from posts 17/05/2020

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. Job 5:9 (NIV)

I was not in the right frame of mind to put anything up for a while, and it is handy to blame it because of the disheartening Coronavirus pandemic that spread over more than 200 countries globally. Thankfully, before I sink into deeper procrastination, a short article of ‘ Being An Example of HIS Message’ was before me on the morning 10/03/2020.  A few days later, the ‘Feeding of the 5000 with 2-salted fishes and 5- loaves of bread,’ which was one of Jesus’ miracles that reported in all four Gospels (1) came to me. I thought a ‘miracle’ is what the world needs to end the pandemic, but how and when it ends, my thoughts would never be HIS thoughts. The key word of the story was ‘Feeding.’

Then Sunday came, Pastor Prince, in His usual 45-minute long sermon, I heard him mentioning of ‘the ‘feeding of the 5000’ (2). As it came from the pulpit so it must not be coincidental. And in the following two Sundays, I heard Pastor Prince talking the same story briefly again plus the miracle of turning water into fine wine at the wedding (John 2:1-12) in two of his sermons as well. God definitely wanted my attention through repetitions. Before I started taking the initiative to do anything, I had a nasty fall and injured myself severely. The evil one was predictably wicked. But my God shielded me from a concussion, except the ugly bruises on my face. 

Either for adult Bible studies or church Sunday school class for pre-schoolers, the ‘Feeding of the 5000’ is a familiar story for all Christians. People can find the narratives of this one-off miracle in four gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. It would help people what to expect from Jesus, the God of miracles. The event miracle unambiguously reported on how HE used 2-fishes and 5-loaves-of-bread to feed a multitude of 5000 people that they followed Him, on foot from cities into a remote place, where Jesus was at, and they stayed with Him till the time was late in the day and feeling hungry.

As Matthew  (matt 14:13-14), profiled Jesus’ emotional and physical need for a rest after healing many, and a place to pray alone in the time of mourning over the death of John the Baptist. So, that’s the ‘Why.’

Noted in Mark ( mk 6:32-33) that Jesus asked His disciples to take a boat ride with Him to a quiet place to get some rest; noted also, that some of the crowd outwent them and that’s the ‘How.‘

In (luke 9:10 kjv) , Luke gave the listed a solitary place near Bethsaida as the ‘Where.‘

In John (john 6:4 niv) reported the time that Passover, a feast of Jews was near’ that’s the ‘When.’

In (Luke 9:14), Luke, as a medical doctor, gave an account of ‘What’ Jesus said to HIS disciples, ‘‘Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each,” is it the distancing?

If one must pick one book on the event, to me that would be the book of John (john 6:1-14 summary). In open dialogues, John wrote how Jesus ingeniously asked Philip, one of His disciples, at first to verbalise a humanly impossible situation that’s to feed the 5000 with limited resources, in a remote place and was getting late during the day. Then, Jesus asked Andrew , Simon Peter’s brother, the other disciple to bring Him the two salted fish and five loaves of bread that belonged to a little boy to be His means to perform the miracle after HE looked up to Heaven, broke and distributed the bread, first to His disciples and to the crowd of 5000 people.

Although Jesus needed rest and time to be alone with the Father in prayer and mourning; HE was genuinely compassionate toward the crowd and seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. HE healed their sick and taught them things concerning the Kingdom of Heaven. The silver lining of this miracle was two folds. The salted fishes and loaves of bread, which a little boy would naturally bring along for food, to travel to a remote location with the multitude. In the end, the common food items become the supernatural means for Jesus to feed the 5000 men and woman miraculously.. The way Jesus broke and distributed bread to the group after HE looked upwards, akin to the Last Supper in the Upper Room with His disciples.

The entire process of the event would make memory bred into people’s souls when HE went up to Heaven. Most importantly, Jesus was at all times One with His Father, either in grief, prayers or in thanksgiving. Jesus used this extraordinary event to give a grounding in teaching His disciples and us that HE would never be constrained by ‘Time and Space.‘ We also learn, in Matthew 14:20 – ‘after they all ate and were full, and the disciples took up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftovers‘ that HIS provision would always exceed what people need because HE is the God who provides. 

Let’s turn to look at our current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Scientists, doctors and researchers still don’t have comprehensive scientific knowledge on this vicious virus, from the first quarter of 2020 till as of now. It has infected millions of people globally that need healing. People need strength and comfort to face and mourn for the passing of their loved ones who died of the virus. The public health system, almost in all jurisdictions, are desperately in need of protective gears, ventilators, hospital beds, medical professionals, and Testing kits, not to mention the timely arrival of the safe vaccines or antibodies. Are we in a humanly impossible situation that needs for God’s mercy? Or how can we be still and know that HE is God (Psalms 46:10) who would tell us what to do so that we can live out from His message?

Habakkuk 2:3a ….KJV

…..Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

1.(Matthew 14–Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6–Mark 6:31-44; Luke 9–Luke 9:12-17; John 6–John 6:1-14). 2.https://www.josephprince.com/ncc-sermons